CHENNAI: An astute politician with over seven decades of experience in the craft, DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi knows the art of making political capital from any burning issue. It is no surprise then that he is trying to draw maximum mileage from the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, where his flipflops have been numerous.

According political observers, DMK chief, 88, is adept at playing to the gallery on the issue. He is also not known for adopting a consistent stand on supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or indeed the fight for separate Eelam, conceived by ardent separatists as an independent state for Tamils in Sri Lanka.

As expected, his arch rival and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has dubbed the withdrawal of support to the UPA government a "drama". But DMK chief, who is known as Kalaignar (artist) and who began his career as a screenwriter, is a master of playing up such issues to steal headlines and attract national attention.

The Lankan Tamil problem began playing a part in the politics of Tamil Nadu in the early 1980s. Then, AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran emerged as a supporter of V Prabhakaran-led LTTE. In fact, MGR openly provided financial support to the front in its fight against the Sri Lankan army.

That time, DMK chief backed a rival front, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, led by Sri Sabarathnam. Again, when MGR supported the operations of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka, Karunanidhi was critical of it, and even stayed away from a reception organised in Chennai to welcome the troops.

After MGR's death, Karunanidhi, who won his first assembly election in 1957, became sympathetic towards LTTE. When the party returned to power in 1989 after being sent into a long political wilderness by MGR, it was claimed by many that LTTE had a free run in the state.

To the extent that in 1990 its cadre could assassinate Padmanabha and other leaders of Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, a rival organisation, in broad daylight and escape with ease. Later, in January 1991, the DMK government was dismissed by then prime minister Chandrasekhar for supporting militant activities by LTTE. DMK suffered a severe jolt in the assembly polls in May 1991 after the killing of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi at Sriperumbudur near Chennai. The Jain Commission — set up to inquire into the killing — in its interim report referred to the role of DMK in the killing.

It led to Congress withdrawing support to the United Front government of IK Gujral, of which DMK was a part. This may have prompted DMK to fall in line with Centre's policy as it became part of NDA and UPA governments, besides the National Front and United Front earlier. Justifying his position, DMK chief then said "on the Lankan issue, the Centre's stand is our stand". This approach suited it and worked smoothly so long as Jayalalithaa remained a bitter critic of LTTE and did not bring up the problems of Tamils in Lanka. Since LS polls of 2009, she turned vocal about the condition of Tamils there.

On coming to power in 2011, her government passed a resolution against the Lankan government in the state assembly. DMK, on the other hand, had to fall in line with the Centre's policy. Karunanidhi could do little to stop the war in 2009. The war led to the killing of Prabhakaran, after which DMK started pressing the Centre for rehabilitating Lankan Tamils. This time too there is no certainty that DMK will exit UPA. Cynics suggest Karunanidhi was waiting for an opportunity to counter the celebration in the AIADMK camp over the victory it scored in the Cauvery water dispute.